The 2012 patent trial that grabbed the most headlines was Apple's $1 billion win (since reduced) against Samsung. But Apple also suffered a major patent setback of its own last year when a patent-holding company called VirnetX won a $368 million verdict against the tech giant.

The consequences of Apple's loss are now starting to become clear. This month, testimony in a court hearing showed that not only is Apple facing royalty payments that could cost it many millions more, but it has already made changes to one of its premiere products, FaceTime - changes that reportedly have degraded the service's quality.

While I won't shed a tear for Apple losing a patent lawsuit, this does illustrate once more why the system is broken.

I've been using facetime regularly since the day it came out (kids, family, etc) both on my laptop and phone. I can't say i've noticed any degradation in quality at any point. Erm, that's not to say the quality is great or anything.